Treaty of Westphalia, signed on 24th October 1648, marked the end of Thirty Years’ War. This war is rightly considered one of the most destructive conflicts in the history of Europe. The instrumental accord was Treaty of Munster, in a series of different treaties that collectively make Treaty of Westphalia.

The war or series of connected wars began in 1618 when the Austrian Habsburgs tried to impose Roman Catholicism on their Protestant subjects in Bohemia. It pitted Protestant against Catholic, the Holy Roman Empire against France, the German princes and princelings against the emperor and each other, and France against the Habsburgs of Spain.

The treaty gave the Swiss independence of Austria and the Netherlands independence of Spain. The German principalities secured their autonomy. Sweden gained territory, and a payment in cash, Brandenburg and Bavaria made gains too, and France acquired most of Alsace-Lorraine. The prospect of a Roman Catholic Reconquista of Europe vanished forever. More important throughout Europe, Westphalia signalled the beginning of state sovereignty that each of these kings would be the sole sovereign in his domain.

However, presently the concept of the nation-state is in deep crisis, and new political thought is needed to solve the crisis.